Automatic ticket gate



March 24, 1970 KEISUKE OSAKI 3,502,185

AUTOMATIC TICKET GATE Filed Feb. 5. 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEYSMarch 24,1970 KEISUK O 3,502,185

AUTOMATIC TICKET GATE Filed Feb. 5, 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 fi 4 f2 .73 J4J6 J7 32 2 44 W 59 4a 5/ J? INVENTOR f /su/rzs 0 45/ BY W/WW ATTORNEYSMarch 24, 1970 KEISUKE' OSAKI 3,502,185

AUTOMATIC TICKET GATE Filed Feb. 5, 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 au7 w7a; I l 6INVENTOR ATTORNEY March 24,1970 KElsU KE osAKl 3,502,185

AUTOMATIC norm GATE Filed Feb. 5, 1968 I 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTORfiE/Su/ff 05m ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,502,185 AUTOMATIC TICKETGATE Keisuke Osaki, Kyoto, Japan, assignor to Omron Tateisi ElectronicsCo., Kyoto, Japan, a company of Japan Filed Feb. 5, 1968, Ser. No.703,048 Claims priority, application Japan, Feb. 7, 1967, 4 7 8 8 Int.Cl. G07f 1/06 U.S. Cl. 194-4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE There isknown an automatic ticket gate wherein a passenger who wishes to passtherethrough inserts his ticket into a slot provided on the gate,wherein the ticket is checked with respect to its validity, and when ithas been recognized as valid, the gate is opened or kept opened for thepassenger to pass through. Such a prior art ticket gate, however, cannotaccept any succeeding passenger until the preceding one has completelypassed through the gate. This certainly is very inconvenient and poses aserious problem especially during rush hours whan many passengers swarminto the gate. Accordingly, the primary object of this invention is toprovide an automatic ticket gate which can accept a plurality ofpassengers in rapid succession, thereby greatly improving the passageefficiency of the gate. In accordance with the invention, any passengerneed not wait in front of the gate until the preceding one hascompletely passed through the gate. When the ticket inserted into a slotformed in the gate by a passenger has been recognized as valid, thatfact is memorized and the gate is opened or kept open on the basis ofthat memory for that passenger to pass through. At the same time thegate can accept a succeeding passenger. When the ticket inserted by thispassenger has been recognized as valid, that fact is also memorized.These two facts are memorized individually and in the order they haveoccurred. When the first passenger has passed through the gate, thefirst memory about him is erased, but the gate is kept opened due to thesecond memory for the succeeding passenger to pass through. When thissucceeding passenger has passed through the gate, the second memoryabout him is then erased. If the ticket inserted by the succeedingpassenger has been recognized as invalid, the gate is closed against himafter the preceding passenger has passed therethrough. Thus, inaccordance with the invention, since the validity or invalidity of thetickets inserted by passengers entering the gate one immediately afteranother is memorized individually and in the order they have come in, sothat the opening or closing of the gate is controlled for individualpassengers on the basis of the individual memories, the gate can accepta succeeding passenger while it is still dealing with the preceding one,that is, many passengers in rapid succession, thereby improving itspassage efficiency.

The invention with its features and advantages will be fully understoodby reading the following description of preferred embodiments thereofwith reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective exterior view of an automatic ticketgate embodying the invention;

3,502,185 Patented Mar. 24, 1970 FIG. 2 schematically shows the interiormechanism of the ticket gate shown in FIG. 1 when used as an entrancegate;

FIG. 3 schematically shows a control mechanism for the turnstile shownin FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a control circuit for the mechanism shownin FIGS. 1 and 3;

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective exterior view of another automaticticket gate embodying the invention;

FIG. '6 is a block diagram of a control circuit for the ticket gateshown in FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is a time chart for explanation of the operation of the circuitshown in FIG. 6.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown an automatic ticket gate comprisinga pair of side structures 1 and 1' defining a gateway to, say, aplatform of a railway station. Let it be assumed that the gate is usedas an entrance gate. Passengers are supposed to pass through the gate inthe direction of an arrow X. As they enter the gate, they insert aticket 50 into a slot 2 formed on the top wall of the side structure 1.The side structure 1 is also provided with a turnstile 3 normallyclosing the gateway.

Just inside the slot 2, there are provided a pair of rollers 4 and 4 infrictional contact with each other. The roller 4' is mounted on theouter end of a rod 5 adapted to act on a limit-switch 5. The ticket 50that has been inserted into the slot 2 pushes the rollers 4 and 4' apartthereby moving the rod 5' lengthwise rightward in the figure, so thatthe switch 5 is actuated to energize a motor, not shown. When energized,the motor rotates rollers 6 and 7 clockwise. The rollers 6 and 7 are infrictional contact with rollers 8 and 9, respectively, so that theinserted ticket is drawn downward by the two pairs of rollers.

Between the vertically spaced pairs of rollers 6, 8 and 7, 9 there isprovided a device 10 for reading the information such as the period ofavailability, the range of journey, etc. recorded on the ticket as itpasses thereby. The device may for example be a magnetic reading head.The information read by the reading head 10 is tested with respect toits validity by a suitable device, not shown, and upon recognition ofthe validity of the ticket inserted a signal appears at a terminal A2 inFIG. 4. At the same time, a solenoid 11 in FIG. 2 is energized for ashort period of time so as to pull in a plunger rod 12. This causes alever 13 connected to the outer end of the plunger rod to be tiltedcounter-clockwise about a pivot pin 13. The roller 9 is mounted on alever 14 pivotable about a pin 14'. The counter-clockwise tilting of thelever 13 causes the lever 14 to be turned clockwise about the pin 14' sothat the roller 9 thereon is moved away from the opposite roller 7,whereupon the rollers 7 and 9 release the ticket they pinch betweenthemselves, thereby letting it to gravitate onto a cutter 16. The ticketon the cutter, however, has its upper edge positioned at a height readyto be nipped again by the rollers 7 and 9 in the manner to be describedlater.

When the ticket is recognized as valid, a solenoid 15 is also energizedso that the cutter is turned counterclockwise about a pin 17 so far asthe cutter cuts or clips part of the forward edge of the ticket and atthe same time actuates a microswitch 18, whereupon the rollers 6 and 7are rotated counter-clockwise. With the solenoid 11 having beendeenergized to restore the roller 9 to the original position to nip theticket between itself and the roller 7, the counter-clockwise rotationof the rollers 7 and '6 moves the ticket upward. During the course ofthe upward movement, the ticket again moves the rod 5' to actuate theswitch 5, which is restored when the ticket has been pulled out of theslot 2 by its owner.

When the switch 5 is again actuated after the production of a signal atthe terminal A2 upon recognition of the validity of the inserted ticketand then restored, a

signal appears at a terminal A1. This signal is used to operate thecircuit shown FIG. 4 on the one hand and to stop the rotation of therollers 6 and 7 and restore the cutter 16 on the other hand.

As shown in detail in FIG. 3, the turnstile 3 comprises a disc 20 andthree arms 3' secured to a shaft 21 journaled in the disc 20. When thearms 3' are rotated, the shaft 21 is also rotated. Upon rotation of thearms 3' the gate is opened in a well known manner. A ratchet wheel 23 issecured to the shaft for rotation therewith. A pawl 24 pivoted as at 27on the disc 20 engages one of the teeth of the wheel 23 to prevent therotation of the shaft 21. When a solenoid 25 is energized as will bedescribed later, it pulls in a plunger 26 thereby to pivot the pawl 24clockwise to disengage from the wheel tooth, thereby releasing the lockon the shaft 21. Under the condition, the passenger can move theturnstile with his hands to open the gate. Another pawl 28 pivoted at 29on the disc 20 engages the ratchet wheel 23 for prevention of reverse(counterclockwise) rotation of the shaft 21.

When the turnstile and consequently the shaft 21 is rotated clockwise,the pawl 28 is pivoted counter-clockwise about the pin 29, therebyactuating a microswitch 30, whereupon a signal appears at a terminal A3in FIG. 4. The appearance of this signal at the terminal A3 isconsidered to indicate that the passenger has now passed through thegate. When the switch 30 has been actuated, the solenoid 25 isdeenergized as will be described later, so that the pawl 28 is returnedby a spring 24' to engage into the next one of the teeth of the ratchetwheel 24, thereby locking the turnstile again.

Turning to FIG. 4, the signal appearing at the terminal A2 when theticket inserted has been recognized as valid is applied as a set inputto a flip-flop 31, the set output from which is applied as one input toan AND element 32. To the other input of the AND element is applied thesignal appearing at the terminal A1 when the ticket has been pulled outof the slot after the recognition of its validity. When the AND elements32 receives the two inputs in this manner, it produces an output to beapplied as a trigger input to a binary counter 33. The counter 33 hastwo output lines 34 and 35, on each of which an output always exists.Every time the counter 33 receives a trigger input signal, the output onone of the two lines 34 and 35 is shifted to the other. Let it beassumed that initially, an output, that is, a signal 1 exists on theline 35 while no output, that is, a signal exists on the other line 34.Under the I condition, when a trigger signal is applied to the counter33, the output condition thereof is reversed, so that an output appearson the line 34 while the output on the line 35 disappears. The output onthe line 34 is applied as a set input to a flip-flop 37 through adifferentiator 36. The set output from the flip-flop 37 appears at aterminal A4 through an OR element 38. The signal at the terminal A4energizes the solenoid 25 to cause the pawl 24 to pivot out ofengagement with the ratchet wheel 23 (FIG. 4). Thus, the first passengerwho inserted the ticket is allowed to pass through the gate.

When the signal at the terminal A1 disappears, that is, when the tickethas been pulled out of the slot, a NOT element 39 produces an output,which is applied as a reset input to the flip-flop 31 through adifferentiator 40. Under the condition, the validity of the ticket thathas been pulled out of the slot is still memorized by the flip-flop 37.This memory is removed or erased in the following manner. As previouslymentioned, when the passenger has passed through the gate, the swtich 30is actuated to provide a signal at the terminal A3. This signal isapplied to a differentiator 41, the output pulse from which is appliedas a trigger input signal to another binary counter 42 of the sameconstruction as the previously mentioned binary counter 33, whereuponthe signal on the output line 43 of the counter 42 that has until thenbeen 0 becomes 1 and the signal on the other output line 44 that hasuntil then been 1 becomes 0. The signal 1 on the output line 43 isapplied through a differentiator 45 to the flip-flop 37 to reset thesame, thereby removing therefrom the memory that has been memorized withrespect to the passenger that has just passed through the gate.

If, before the flip-flop 37 is reset, that is, the passenger has passedthrough the gate, a succeeding passenger happens to come in and inserthis ticket into the slot and then pulls it out again, a signal appearson the terminals A1 and A2 if the ticket is valid. At this time, sincethe flip-flop 31 has already been reset by the output pulse from thedifferentiator 40 upon pulling out of the previous ticket by thepreceding passenger who is still on the gateway, the signal at theterminal A2 again sets the flip-flop 31, so that the AND element 32produces an output, which reverses the output condition of the counter33 so that the signal on the line 35 becomes 1 and the signal on theline 34 becomes 0. The signal 1 on the line 35 is differentiated by adifferentiator 46, the output from which is applied as a set input to aflip-flop 47. Thus, the information about the succeeding passenger hasbeen memorized by the flip-flop 47. The set output from the flip-flop 47appears at the terminal A4 through the OR element 38, thereby keepingthe gate opened for this passenger to pass through.

As previously mentioned, when the preceding passenger passed through thegate, the flip-flop 37 was reset and the reset condition continues. Whenthe succeeding passenger has passed through the gate, the signal at theterminal A3 causes the output condition if the counter 42 to be reversedso that the signal on the line 44 becomes 1, which is differentiated bya ditferentiator 48, the output from which resets the flip-flop 47,thereby removing or erasing the memory about the succeeding passenger.

If, before the flip-flop 47 has been reset, another succeeding passengerinserts a ticket into the slot, the flip-flop 37 is again set providedthat the ticket is valid.

The gate shown in FIGS. l3 may be used either as an entrance or an exitgate. In the latter case, however, the ticket that has been checked withrespect to its validity is not returned to its owner but be collectedinto a suitable receptacle provided in place of the cutter and itsassociated parts. The gate may also be used with commutation ticketsonly. In this case, the cutter 16 and its associated parts are notrequired either.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-3, the arrangement is such that theinformation about only two successive passengers are memorized. With thearrangement of FIGS. 5-7, it is possible to accept more than twosucceeding passengers in succession before the preceding passenger haspassed through the gate.

FIG. 5 shows a gate comprising a pair of side structures 51 and 52defining a gateway 53 therebetween. As in FIG. 1, passengers aresupposed to enter the gate in the direction of an arrow 54. Adjacent theentrance side of the top wall of the structure 51 there is formed aticket inlet slot 55 and adjacent the opposite end thereof a ticketoutlet slot 56 is formed. The ticket inserted into the slot 55 isconveyed by a suitable ticket conveying device provided inside thestructure 51 and shown as a block 57 in FIG. 6 onto the outlet slot 56.

Each ticket has a predetermined information such as the period ofavailability and the range of journey recorded thereon in a well knownmanner. While the ticket is being conveyed inside the structure 51, theinformation thereon is read by a suitable reader 59 and then is testedwith respect to its validity by a suitable testing circuit 58 (FIG. 6).When the information is recognized as valid, a signal appears on a lineL1. Inside the tickct inlet slot 55 there is provided a detector fordetecting a ticket inserted in the slot 55 so as to produce a signal ona line L2. The detector is shown as a block 61 in FIG. 6 but maycomprise a microswitch with its associated parts similar to those shownin FIG. 2. The signal produced by the ticket detector 61 is applied alsoto a driving circuit 62, the output from which drives the ticketconveying device 57.

Each of the two gateway defining side structures 51 and 52 is providedadjacent the exit end thereof with a bar 63 normally retracted into thestructure. When a bar driving circuit 64 operates as will be describedlater, the bars 63 are pivoted into the gate closing position as shownin dash-and-dot lines in FIG. 5.

The gate is also provided with a pair of passenger detectors 65 and 66spaced apart longitudinally of the gateway. Each detector may comprise alight source mounted on one of the structures 51 and 52 so as to projecta light beam 67, 68 onto a photosensitive element mounted on theopposite structure. When the light beam 67 and then 68 is intercepted bya passenger passing through the gate, a signal appears on the outputlines L3 and L4 of the detectors 65 and 66, respectively.

Suppose that four passengers A, B, C and D enter the gate in successionand in the order mentioned, and that the third passenger C use aninvalid ticket and the other three, a valid one. When the firstpassenger A inserts his ticket into the slot 55, the ticket detector 61produces an output on the line L2 as shown in FIG. 7A. This output isalso applied to the driving circuit 62, the output from which causes theticket conveying device 57 to carry the inserted ticket from the inletslot 55 onto the outlet slot 56. The signal on the line L2 isdifferentiated by a differentiator 69, the output pulse from which isapplied as a trigger pulse to a quaternary counter 70. The counter 70has four output lines 0, 1, 2, and 3 connected to one input of four ANDelements 71-74, respectively. The output line L1 from the ticketinformation tester 58 is connected to the other input of all these fourAND elements. Initially, the counter 70 produces an output on its outputline 0. When the counter has received one trigger signal from thediiferentiator 69 caused by the insertion of a ticket by the passengerA, the output of the counter 70 is shifted onto the next output line 1.This output is applied as one input to the AND element 72. On the otherhand, since the ticket inserted is a valid one, the tester 58 producesan output on the line L1, which is applied as the other input to the ANDelement 72. As a result, the AND element 72 produces an output, whichsets a flip-flop 76, the set output from which is in turn applied as aninhibit input to an AND element 80. So long as the AND element 80receives the inhibit input, it cannot produce any output.

Flip-flops 75, 77 and 78 with their respective AND elements 79, 81 and82 are associated with the AND elements 71, 73 and 74, respectively, inthe same manner as the flip-flop 76 with its AND element 80 isassociated with the AND element 72.

As will be easily understood from the foregoing description, when thesecond passenger B inserts his ticket, which is valid, into the slot,the output of the counter 70 is shifted onto the third output line 2, sothat the AND element 73 produces an output to set the flip-flop 77, theset output from which is applied as an inhibit input to the AND element81.

When the third passenger C inserts his ticket into the slot, the counter70 shifts its output onto the fourth output line 3. This output isapplied as one input to the AND element 74. However, since the ticketinserted by the passenger C is invalid, no signal appears on the lineL1, so that the AND element 74 produces no output. Consequently, theflip-flop 78 remains reset.

When the fourth Passenger D inserts his ticket which is valid into theinlet slot, the flip-flop 75 is set, as will be easily understood fromthe foregoing description.

Thus, when the four passengers A, B, C and D have successively insertedtheir tickets, the flip-flops 76, 77 and 75 are successively set whereasthe flip-flop 78 remains reset.

Another quaternary counter 83 has four output lines 0, 1, 2 and 3connected to one input of the AND elements 80, 81, 82 and 79,respectively, on the one hand and to one input of four AND elements 85,86, 87 and 84, respectively, on the other hand. Initially, the counter83 has an output on the line 0, which is applied as one input to the ANDelements 80 and 85. As the first passenger A advances through thegateway 53, the first passenger detector 65 detects him to produce asignal on the line L3 as shown in FIG. 7B. This signal is applied as theother input to the AND elements 79-82. As a result, the AND element 80receives two inputs. However, the flip flop 76 applies an inhibit inputto the AND element 80- at this time, as previously mentioned, so thatthe latter produces no output.

The signal on the line L3 is also applied as an inhibit input to anINHIBIT element 88. When the passenger A is presently detected by thesecond passenger detector '66, an output is produced on the line L4 soas to be applied as an input to the INHIBIT element 88. At this time,however, if the passenger A is still being detected by the firstdetector 65 at the same time, that is, if he is still intercepting thelight beam 67 of the first detector 65, the INHIBIT element produces nooutput as it is receiving the inhibit signal from the line L3. It isonly when the passenger A has passed the first detector 65 that theINHIBIT element 88 produces an output as shown in FIG. 7D. This outputis applied as the other input to the AND elements 84-87. Consequently,the AND element 85 produces an output to reset the flip-flop 76 throughan OR element 91, thereby removing its set output that has been appliedas an inhibit signal to the AND element 80. At this time, although theinput to the AND element 80 from the output line 0 of the counter 83 isyet maintained, the other input thereto from the output line L3 of thedetector 65 no longer exists, so that the resetting of the flip-flop 76does not cause the AND element 80 to produce any output. As a result,the gate-bar driving circuit 64 remains inoperative, that is, keeps thegate open for the passenger A to pass through.

The output on the line L4 is also applied to a NOT element 94. When apassenger is detected by the second detector 66, the existing outputfrom the NOT element 94 disappears and when the passenger has completelyleft the detector 66, the NOT element produces an output again as shownin FIG. 7C. This output is differentiated by a differentiator 9 5, theoutput pulse from which causes the counter 83 to step forward. In thepresent case, when the passenger A has passed the detector 66, thecounter 83 has its output shifted from its output line 0 onto 1. Theshifted output is applied as one input to the AND elements 81 and 86.

OR elements 90, 92 and 93 are associated with the AND elements 84, 86and 87 and the flip-flops 75, 77 and 78, respectively, in the samemanner as the OR element 91 is associated with the AND elements 85 andthe flipfiop 76.

When the second passenger B inserts a valid ticket into the inlet slot,the counter 70 has its output shifted from its output line 1 onto 2.This output is applied simultaneously with the output on the line L1 tothe AND element 73, so that the flip-flop 77 is set. When the detectionof the passenger B by means of the detector 65 and then 66 has beencompleted, the flip-flop 77 is reset and then the counter 83 has made aforward step onto 2. Consequently, as in the case of the first passengerA, the gate-bar driving circuit 64 remains inoperative so that the gateis kept open.

When the third passenger C comes in with his invalid ticket, the counter70 has its output shifted onto the output line 3. However, no output isproduced on the line L1, so that the flip-flop 78 remains reset,producing no set output to be applied as an inhibit input to the ANDelement 82, to which the output on the output line 2 of the counter 83is already being applied. Under the condition, when the passenger C isdetected by the first detector 65, the AND element 82 receives anotherinput from the output line L3 of the detector 65, whereupon the ANDelement 82 produces an output to be applied as a set input to aflip-flop 97 through an OR element 96. The set output from the flip-flop97 is applied to the gate-bar driving circuit 64, the output from whichdrives the gate-bars 63 to close the gate, thereby preventing thepassenger C from passing through the gateway. An alarm such as a buzzermay be provided so that it sounds simultaneously with the closing of thegate-bars to summon a station employee.

When a reset switch 102 is closed, a signal is applied through an ORelement 104 to all the fiip-fiOps and the counters 70 and 83 to resetthem. The same result is obtained when a terminal 99 has been initiallyconnected to a source to cause a ditferentiator 103 to apply a resetsignal to the flip-flops and counters through the OR element 104.

Having illustrated and described preferred embodiments of the invention,it is understood that there are many modifications thereof within thescope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. An automatic ticket gate in which tickets each having predeterminedinformation recorded thereon are used for passage therethrough,comprising: means for receiving a plurality of tickets successively froma plurality of persons who intend to pass through said gate; means fortesting the information of each said ticket to produce a first signalwhen said information has been recognized as valid; means for memorizingeach said first signal to produce a corresponding second signal; meansoperable in response to each said second signal to permit passage of oneof said persons through said gate; means for detecting passage of eachsaid person through said gate to produce a third signal, said means fortesting being operable to test a second ticket prior to the productionof a said third signal by the passage of a first person through saidgate; and means operable in response to each said third signal to eraseone of said first signals memorized in said memorizing means.

2. The automatic ticket gate of claim 1, further including means forreturning said tickets to their respective owners.

3. The automatic ticket gate of claim 1, further including means forreturning said tickets to their respective owners and means for cuttingpart of said tickets before they are returned to their respectiveowners.

4. The automatic ticket gate of claim 1, wherein said passage permittingmeans includes a member capable of selectively taking a first conditionunder which said gate is closed and a second condition under which saidgate is open, said member being normally under one of said conditionsand being changed upon production of said second signal from said onecondition to the other and upon disappearance of said second signal fromsaid other condition back to said one condition.

5. An automatic ticket gate in which tickets each having predeterminedinformation recorded thereon are used for passage therethrough,comprising: means for receiving a plurality of tickets successively froma plurality of persons who intend to pass through said gate; means fortesting the information of each said ticket to produce a first signalcorresponding to the validity or invalidity of each said ticket; aplurality of memorizing means; means for successively applying each saidfirst signal to one of said memorizing means so that said plurality ofmemorizing means memorize the validity or invalidity of said pluralityof tickets, respectively, in the order they have been received by saidreceiving means; means for detecting each said person to produce acorresponding second signal; means operable upon production of each saidsecond signal to cause each said memorizing means to produce a thirdsignal corresponding to the memory therein; means operable in responseto each said third signal to regulate passage of each said personthrough said gate depending upon each said memory that was caused byeach said person; and means operable upon production of each said thirdsignal to erase each said memory that was caused by each said personthat has passed through said gate.

6. The automatic ticket gate of claim 5, further including means forreturning said ticket to their respective owners.

7. The automatic ticket gate of claim 5, further including means forreturning said tickets to their respective owners and means for cuttingpart of said tickets before they are returned to their respectiveowners.

8. The automatic ticket gate of claim 5, further including means forstoring said tickets so as not to be returned to their respectiveowners.

9. The automatic ticket gate of claim 5, wherein said passage regulatingmeans operates so that passage of each said person through said gate ispermitted when said memory caused by said person is that of the validityof the ticket of said person, while passage of said person through saidgate is prevented when said memory is the invalidity of the ticket ofsaid person.

10. An automatic ticket gate in which tickets each having predeterminedinformation recorded thereon are used for passage therethrough,comprising: means for receiving a plurality of tickets successively froma plurality of passengers; first detecting means for detecting each saidpassenger to produce a first signal; second detecting means fordetecting each said passenger to produce a second signal; ticketdetecting means for detecting each said ticket to produce a thirdsignal; means for testing the validity of each said ticket to produce afourth signal when the validity of each said ticket has been recognizedas valid; a first counter having a plurality of output lines and beingoperable in response to each said third signal to have its outputshifted successively from one of said output lines onto the next; aplurality of memorizing circuits each adapted to be set to a firstcondition under which it produces a set output and alternatively resetto a second condition under which it has its set output removed, eachsaid memorizing circuit being set when the output on a corresponding oneof said first counter output lines coincides with said fourth signal; asecond counter having a plurality of output lines and being operable inresponse to the termination of said second signal to have its outputshifted successively from one of said output lines onto the next; aplurality of AND circuits each adapted to receive said set output from acorresponding one of said memorizing circuits as an inhibit input, saidfirst signal and said output on the corresponding one of said secondcounter output lines as two inputs and adapted to produce a fifth signalwhen it receives said two inputs at the same time in the absence of saidinhibit input; means operable in response to said fifth signal to permitpassage of each said passenger through said gate; and means for applyingsaid output from said second counter to a corresponding one of saidmemorizing circuits to reset the same successively in the order theywere set.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS STANLEY H. TOLLBERG, PrimaryExaminer

